If every Canuck played like Higgins did on the first shift of the hockey game, the Canucks would never lose. I am very happy Gillis found a way to re-sign him - and at a very reasonable price...

Yeah, the unsung hero so far this year. The battles in wins in the corners and his persistent forecheck is a great contributing factor to many plays for this team so far this season. I go to the majority of the home games and I am amazed just how solid he has been for the Canucks.

That was a stunning fight by Ballard - sure Pavelski is not a fighter, but I haven't seen a lopsided Canuck win like that since Volpatti/Richardson... and before that Rypien/Prust, I think.

Say what you want about Ballard, but that fight was all heart. Ballard isn't what I considered a fighter either, but IMO he's showing he's not going to back down. I like Ballard, unlike some on this board, and I think he could still find his fit on this team.

Hodgson is becoming the player we all probably hoped for after 2008/09 season and WJC - smart and creative with the puck, hardworking, and defensively responsible.

Had a friend of mine that called him a "Diva" at the beginning of the season. When I got my media guest pass after the loss to the LA Kings, Vigneault called the 2nd unit PP "Cody's PP line". Maybe CoHo has finally grown on AV. Saw flashes of it during his limited minutes in the past, but every game, the kid is showing he is the real deal.

Ha - I thought Kesler would pass to Higgins for sure on the play that led to his goal, just to prove to AV that he was a playmaker...!

Not only do I love the point totals of Hodgson right now, I love the timing of his scoring. It seems like whenever the team could use a boost or an injection of energy he sets up a pretty little play or snipes a clutch goal. The game vs San Jose this weekend and the Boston games are good examples of this IMO.

I know comparing across years and teams is difficult, but Hodgson has now tied Henrik's rookie point output. He already passed Kesler a couple of weeks ago.

In 48 games this season, Hodgson has 13 goals, 16 assists and 29 points, which extrapolates to 22 goals, 27 assists and 49 points over an 82 game season which is excellent output for a third line player.

In Henrik's rookie season, he had 9 goals, 20 assists and 29 points in 82 games. Kesler had 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points over 82 games in his rookie season.

It's also worth noting that in their respective rookie seasons Henrik was -2 and Kesler was +1. Hodgson is +7 right now.

The bottom line is that Silent G is putting together a very nice rookie season. In fact, he is having a much more productive first year than Kesler or Henrik did. If he keeps it up, he will have a 20 goal rookie season which would blow by anybody's expectations for this player coming into the year. Henrik has only scored 20 or more goals twice, and Kesler didn't score 20 goals until his third season in the NHL.

herb wrote:I know comparing across years and teams is difficult, but Hodgson has now tied Henrik's rookie point output. He already passed Kesler a couple of weeks ago.

In 48 games this season, Hodgson has 13 goals, 16 assists and 29 points, which extrapolates to 22 goals, 27 assists and 49 points over an 82 game season which is excellent output for a third line player.

In Henrik's rookie season, he had 9 goals, 20 assists and 29 points in 82 games. Kesler had 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points over 82 games in his rookie season.

It's also worth noting that in their respective rookie seasons Henrik was -2 and Kesler was +1. Hodgson is +7 right now.

The bottom line is that Silent G is putting together a very nice rookie season. In fact, he is having a much more productive first year than Kesler or Henrik did. If he keeps it up, he will have a 20 goal rookie season which would blow by anybody's expectations for this player coming into the year. Henrik has only scored 20 or more goals twice, and Kesler didn't score 20 goals until his third season in the NHL.

I think it is safe to compare the two, Henrik had was playing with a tried and true linemate in his brother, Hodgson has been mixed around and is now playing with Hansen and Raymond,and with Booth, Higgins, Burrows, or Raymond, on the PP. Yet he is surpassing Henrik's point totals. Granted Hank didn't get much PP time in that first year, but I still think that Hodgson is going to turn out to be a much more versatile player than Henrik. Both of the Sedins were late bloomers, and I don't expect Hodgson will ever challenge for an Art Ross, but neither did I think that about Henrik or Daniel 10 years ago.